Research in Motion responds to anonymous letter

The BlackBerry PlayBook got lukewarm reviews upon its release as it moved to take on the iPad.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
An open letter reportedly written by a senior Research in Motion executive appeared over at Boy Genius Report on Thursday, saying that he or she had “lost confidence” in the company.

The author, who said he or she had no desire to embarrass the company, appealed directly to RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie to cut costs and refocus on consumers.

“Mike and Jim, please take the time to really absorb and digest the content of this letter because it reflects the feeling across a huge percentage of your employee base,” the letter said. “You have many smart employees, many that have great ideas for the future, but unfortunately the culture at RIM does not allow us to speak openly without having to worry about the career-limiting effects.”

In response to the letter, RIM issued a statement to BGR.

“It is obviously difficult to address anonymous commentary,” the company said. “ ...but regardless of whether the letter is real, fake, exaggerated or written with ulterior motivations, it is fair to say that the senior management team at RIM is nonetheless fully aware of and aggressively addressing both the company’s challenges and its opportunities.”

RIM stock fell dramatically this month after the company missed estimates and announced job cuts. As it faces increasing competition from Apple and Google for its core business mobile market, many have declared the company to be far past its prime.

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